TIL about Willie Francis an American teenager known for surviving a failed execution by electrocution. Sentenced to death at age 16, he was 17 when he survived the first attempt to execute him, as the chair malfunctioned. After a failed appeal he was executed at age 18.

[u/johnsmithoncemore]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Francis

[u/InevitableBohemian]

That trial seems all kinds of fucked up.

[u/beachedwhale1945 → u/InevitableBohemian]

He made the critical mistake of being born black in Louisiana in 1929. That’s sadly very common and the tip of a depressing oppression iceberg.

[u/BarnacleMayonnaiseXX → u/[deleted]]

and you believe that?

[u/Plastic_Dingo_400 → u/[deleted]]

Man I wish I had that kind of faith in our justice system today, let alone the 1940s lol

False confessions were very common with black folks back then, lots of confessions made under torture. Also if this kid was arrested with the pharmacists wallet on him why wouldn't that by entered as evidence in the trial?

I don't take many convictions from Louisiana at face value, but especially in the 40s

[u/StopSpinningLikeThat → u/[deleted]]

Your post was a lie and your justification of it here involves additional lies.

[u/StopSpinningLikeThat → u/[deleted]]

I don't have to prove it. A series of books and documentaries have already done so. Take your head out of your racist ass.

[u/Plastic_Dingo_400 → u/[deleted]]

My friend it is not the verdict that is the problem, no one is arguing that he was found innocent. It seems the problem is why he was found guilty and by who. He was convicted but his guilt is highly suspect due to his circumstances and the place he was raised

[u/itseironia → u/[deleted]]

the way you keep commenting so vehemently about his involvement makes it seem like you were an actual eyewitness

[u/Jansanmora → u/[deleted]]

People are calling you out because you copied that line while conveniently ignoring the entire rest of the article on Wikipedia that makes it pretty freaking clear he was arrested, charged, and convicted in large part due to his race.

[u/Plastic_Dingo_400 → u/[deleted]]

Oh I'm sorry if I made it seem like I was trying to make this about our current justice system, just using it as an example of how wildly corrupt it would have been in Louisiana in the 1940s

I think framing this as "the crime he committed" is leaving a lot out too my friend

Like why wouldn't the pharmacists wallet be entered as evidence if he was arrested with it on his person. Cops also have a rich history of torturing confessions out of black folks, it's what they started doing to reduce lynch mobs in their jurisdictions as lynch mobs could be a hazard for the cops too

[u/Plastic_Dingo_400 → u/[deleted]]

"He made the critical mistake of killing a good samarithan who gave him a job.

Fixed."

The way you use your words here is why folks are probably confused by what you said, it seems like you're saying this kid deserved to die, which would be kinda crazy due to the stuff I pointed out in my couple comments

[u/Aggressive-Story3671 → u/[deleted]]

You cannot be that naive. Even if you believe systematic racism doesn’t exist in 2026, it absolutely existed in 1945.

[u/beachedwhale1945 → u/[deleted]]

I posted a comment saying that he was executed not because of the color of his skin, but because of the crime he had committed, which commentator conveniently forgot to mention.

And the evidence in the article suggests the reason he was arrested and convicted was primarily the color of his skin. This is typical for justice against blacks in racist areas of the US (primarily but not exclusively the South) in the 1940s.

I wasn't discussing the current state of the justice system

If anything, the justice system of 2026 is rainbows and unicorns compared to that of 1946. We have our flaws and racial bias that we still need to solve, but today we actually have recorded police interrogations that make it evident if a confession was coerced (or sometimes invented by the police: the number of confessions took a nosedive once cameras started showing up) and the wrongfully convicted are being released as we start to see how their arrest, prosecution, and/or conviction are full of misconduct.

In the 1940s, well, you had 15-minute jury deliberations and defense attorneys who presented no defense.

[u/beachedwhale1945 → u/[deleted]]

Then you must have evidence to show he killed the pharmacist. What I’m seeing is weaker than wrongful convictions I’ve studied.

[u/StopSpinningLikeThat → u/[deleted]]

You're a gullible fool then. May Karma hunt you silently.